Gaming Like It’s 1923: The Newly Public Domain Game Jam

On New Year’s Day, we launched a special celebration of this milestone year in which new works are finally exiting copyright and entering the US public domain: a public domain game jam.

From now until the end of the month, we’re accepting submissions of all sorts of games (video games, board games, tabletop RPGs, LARPs, and just about anything else you can dream up…) based on works from 1923 that have finally become free for all to use without fear of copyright issues. There’s a bunch of high-profile material to consider, and of course a whole world of lesser-known works that we hope people will dig into for inspiration.

At the end of the month, our growing panel of expert judges (including Cory Doctorow, Whitney “Strix” Beltran, Dan Bull, Rebecca Tushnet, Nicky Case, Mark Lemley, Daphne Keller, Jason Scott, Jason Morningstar, J Li, Eric Goldman, Carolyn Homer, Albert Kong) will select winners in six different categories, to receive prizes including Techdirt copyright swag and copies of our recently-Kickstarted card game, CIA: Collect It All:

• Best Analog Games
• Best Digital Game
• Best adaptation of a 1923 work
• Best remixing of multiple sources (at least one has to be from 1923)
• Best “Deep Cut” (use of a work not listed on any of the round up articles)
• Best Visuals

Even though we are less than a week into 2019, we’ve already had three submissions which you can go try out right now! But we’re expecting a lot more competition — so whether you’re an experienced game designer, an amateur looking to try their hand, or just someone who is really inspired by a work that has finally entered the public domain, head over and join the jam on Itch… then get to work!

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